Your non-profit could get a financial contribution to assist businesses at all stages of development in scaling up and becoming more globally competitive. Investments will focus on enhancing business support networks for under-represented groups — including women, Indigenous peoples and young entrepreneurs — and supporting regional strategic clusters, accelerators and incubators, and projects that attract foreign investments.

Business Development Program

Get an interest-free repayable contribution of up to 75% of eligible costs to start-up, expand, commercialize a new product or service or improve competitiveness. Note: The proposed federal program changes from Budget 2018 will be reflected here as they take effect.

Status

Money

Stacking

Maximum investment by this program: 75% of eligible salary costs and 50% of subcontractor costs

Maximum total investment by all governments: 75% of eligible project costs

How it works

Call 1-877-994-4727 to speak with an NRC IRAP Advisor.

They'll ask you some questions about your firm such as your business objectives, your capacity and willingness to grow through innovation to determine if you're eligible for NRC IRAP support. If the advisor determines that your development and growth strategies could benefit from NRC IRAP support, they will refer you to an NRC IRAP Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA).

Your ITA may also meet with you in person to understand your business in more detail such as your business strategy and the issues you are facing, the opportunities you see for growth and your plans for the future. This information will help the ITA develop a diagnostic to identify perceived gaps and recommend strategies by which to address these gaps.

Your proposal will be assessed within 3 months (usually less) based on:

Technical aspects and potential impacts on your business

Business, management, financial capabilities

Your assessed potential to achieve expected results

Your commercialization plan

The overall market and commercialization opportunity

Benefits to Canada

If successful, you'll receive the contribution and work with your ITA throughout your project.

AgriInnovate Program

Get up to $10 million in repayable contributions to cover 50% of the cost of projects that aim to accelerate demonstration, commercialization and/or adoption of innovative products, technologies, processes or services that increase agri-sector competitiveness and sustainability.

Stacking

How it works

Find a potential foreign collaborator and get a letter or email confirming that they know about your technology and want to meet with you. (Tip: Use the Trade Commissioner Service to find a partner if you don't already have one.)

How it works

Write your proposal with the project participants, and get feedback your Mitacs representative.

Collect all signatures and required documents and submit the final proposal to your Mitacs representative. Peer review takes approximately 6–8 weeks.

If the proposal is approved, Mitacs will get in touch with more details about how to make your financial contribution. When they receive it, Mitacs will release the Accelerate award to the university and it will pay the intern.

FedNor Innovation Fund — Private Sector

Repayable contribution to cover up to 50% of eligible expenses related to the adoption and commercialization of new technologies.

Status

Accepting applications

Money

Amount is based on the minimum you need

Stacking

Maximum investment by this program: Up to 33% of eligible capital costs or up to 50% of eligible non-capital costs

Maximum total investment by all government programs: 75% of project costs

How it works

Read the program guidelines and make sure your proposal fits in with the innovation priority. (Tip: Discuss your proposal with a FedNor officer before completing an application.)

Fill out an application for financial assistance. It will include key contact and project information, along with a short summary of how your project fits in with the innovation priority and its anticipated measurable economic benefits.

FedNor will evaluate your initial application to determine if your project is eligible to move on to the next phase.

If successful, you will be invited to submit a detailed application.

FedNor will evaluate your full proposal on factors such as project outcomes, competitiveness and benefits to Northern Ontario's economy, and aims to have results within 80 working days.

If successful, you will negotiate a contribution agreement, which lays out repayment details and obligations such as reporting requirements.

Start your project.

Submit eligible expenses for reimbursement.

Report to FedNor on project progress, spending and other activities as identified in your contribution agreement.

Repay the funding according to the terms negotiated in your contribution agreement.

Government of Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada — FedNor

Complete the application. There are two parts. Part I is filled out by your chosen student. NSERC will provide you with a reference number. Once you have it, log into your NSERC account. Select form 202, Part II, and enter the student's reference number. Follow the rest of the steps.

NSERC assesses your application on the student's eligibility, the project's eligibility, and other criteria, usually within a month.

If approved, you'll typically get your funding within 30 days. You pay the student and NSERC reimburses you at the end of the student's term.

Note: The proposed federal program changes from Budget 2018 will be reflected here as they take effect.

Government of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development—For-Profit

Get up to $99,000 for projects that contribute to diversifying Canada's northern economy and promoting clean economic growth. Note: The proposed federal program changes from Budget 2018 will be reflected here as they take effect.

Your project

Must have clear economic, innovation and/or public benefits for Canada (e.g., create jobs, develop a new technology, support local communities, etc.)

How it works

Read the Program and Statement of Interest guides.

Write and submit your Statement of Interest.

The Strategic Innovation Fund will confirm whether your Statement of Interest has potential and if completing a full application is advisable.

Develop and submit your full application.

Your application will be assessed against the anticipated benefits of the project (e.g., potential spillover benefits, number of jobs created and environmental benefits) and will undergo due

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada will decide which projects to fund.

If successful, you will negotiate a contribution agreement, which lays out details such as whether the contribution is repayable, non-repayable or a combination, and obligations such as reporting requirements.

Money

Stacking

Your project

Should support the establishment of new facilities or bring new mandates to Canada

Must have clear economic, innovation and/or public benefits for Canada (e.g., create jobs, develop a new technology, support local communities, etc.)

How it works

Read the Program and Statement of Interest guides.

Write and submit your Statement of Interest.

The Strategic Innovation Fund will confirm whether your Statement of Interest has potential and if completing a full application is advisable.

Develop and submit your full application.

Your application will be assessed against the anticipated benefits of the project (e.g., potential spillover benefits, number of jobs created and environmental benefits) and will undergo due diligence.

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada will decide which projects to fund.

If successful, you will negotiate a contribution agreement, which lays out details such as whether the contribution is repayable, non-repayable or a combination, and obligations such as reporting requirements.

Stacking

Your project

Should accelerate adoption and development of emerging platform technologies and scaling of high-potential health and biosciences companies with a high degree of collaboration between the private sector, researchers and non-profit organizations.

Must have clear economic, innovation and public benefits for Canada (e.g., create jobs, develop a new technology, support local communities, etc.)

How it works

Read the Program and Statement of Interest guidelines.

Write and submit your Statement of Interest.

Your Statement of Interest will be assessed and a select number of applicants will be invited to submit a full application.

Develop and submit your full application.

Your application will be assessed against the anticipated benefits of the project (e.g., potential spillover benefits, number of jobs created and environmental benefits) and will undergo due diligence.

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada will decide which projects to fund.

If successful, you will negotiate a contribution agreement, which lays out details such as conditions of the contribution, obligations of the parties and reporting requirements.

Your project

Must have clear economic, innovation and/or public benefits for Canada (e.g., create jobs, develop a new technology, support local communities, etc.)

How it works

Read the Program and Statement of Interest guides.

Write and submit your Statement of Interest.

The Strategic Innovation Fund will confirm whether your Statement of Interest has potential and if completing a full application is advisable.

Develop and submit your full application.

Your application will be assessed against the anticipated benefits of the project (e.g., potential spillover benefits, number of jobs created and environmental benefits) and will undergo due

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada will decide which projects to fund.

If successful, you will negotiate a contribution agreement, which lays out details such as whether the contribution is repayable, non-repayable or a combination, and obligations such as reporting requirements.

Feed into the application process. (Tip: the application is mainly completed by the university or college researcher. As a business, you contribute to the development of the proposal, create a letter of support responding to particular questions and provide a profile of your company to the researcher or to NSERC directly.)

NSERC assesses the application on technical merit, industrial relevance and other criteria, usually within six weeks.

If approved, funding is typically provided to the university or college within 30 days.

Government of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development—Not-For-Profit

Get up to $2 million for innovation and clean-tech, economic growth and diversification, and capacity development projects. Note: The proposed federal program changes from Budget 2018 will be reflected here as they take effect.

Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation

Interest-bearing loans of $150,000 to $500,000 for late-stage commercialization, new product or service development, new applications or markets, development or implementation of new processes or technologies.

Enabling Agricultural Research and Innovation

Up to $60,000 for research and development, $60,000 for accelerating agricultural innovation and $75,000 for technology development and demonstration in the agriculture, agri-food, agri-product and agri-science sectors.

Government of New Brunswick, Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries

Canada-B.C. Agri-Innovation

Cost-shared funding for research and development, pilot and demonstration, and commercialization and adoption projects that bring “new to B.C.” agriculture and agri-food products, processes or technologies into the sector.

FinDev Canada Financing and Investment

Direct loans, loan guarantees, structured project financing and investments are available for Canadian companies operating in developing countries that bring sustainable social and economic benefits to local communities.

Ag Action Manitoba Program — Research and Innovation

Apply for funding for up to 50% of the costs of researcher and industry-led projects relating to grain innovation, livestock production, agri-resource management, processing and value added, economic and market analysis, and more.

Solunov

Get loans or equity investments, as well as business coaching, for innovative business projects of $1 million or more that involve improving a product or business process, adopting a new marketing strategy or implementing a new technology.

Your non-profit could get a financial contribution to assist businesses at all stages of development in scaling up and becoming more globally competitive. Investments will focus on enhancing business support networks for under-represented groups — including women, Indigenous peoples and young entrepreneurs — and supporting regional strategic clusters, accelerators and incubators, and projects that attract foreign investments.

Innovate to Opportunity

Get a wage subsidy starting at 35% when you hire recent maste’rs and PhD grads for jobs paying at least $60,000 per year that are focused on research and innovation and will help your business begin, prepare for or expand exporting.

Your non-profit could get a financial contribution to assist businesses at all stages of development in scaling up and becoming more globally competitive. Investments will focus on enhancing business support networks for under-represented groups — including women, Indigenous peoples and young entrepreneurs — and supporting regional strategic clusters, accelerators and incubators, and projects that attract foreign investments.

Ignite

Awards of up to $300,000 to consortia that are conducting research projects to address a significant demonstrated problem faced by industry and will commercialize a proposed innovation within three years.

Jobs and Prosperity Fund — Forestry Growth Fund

Grants and loans for strategic investments by manufacturers and processors of wood products across Ontario, including improving productivity and innovation, enhancing competitiveness, supporting new market access, and strengthening supply chains and regional economies.

Colleges Applied Research and Development Fund — College Voucher for Innovation and Productivity I

Up to $20,000 paid directly to a post-secondary institution for companies to develop, implement and commercialize technical innovations in partnership with research institutions and their students for a maximum of 12 months.

Agriculture Research and Innovation — Industry Research Coordination

Funding covering 85% of costs, up to $65,000, for emerging and developing sectors or 50% of costs, up to $40,000, for mature and established sectors to prioritize, coordinate, implement and share research at an industry level.

Government of Prince Edward Island, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Northern Industries Innovation Fund

Up to $50,000 to cover 50% of the costs of applied research and development, new or improved products and services, and testing of innovative equipment or technologies to support capital investment decisions.

Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) — Youth Green

Financial assistance to offset the cost of hiring young talent (15 to 30 years old) to work on business, technical or technology-related projects with environmental benefits.

Status

Accepting new clients

Money

Maximum: $10,000

Stacking

Maximum investment by this program: 100% of salary costs

Maximum total investment by all governments: 100% of salary costs

How it works

Call 1-877-994-4727 to speak with an NRC IRAP Advisor.

They'll ask you some questions about your firm such as your business objectives, your capacity and willingness to grow through innovation to determine if you're eligible for NRC IRAP support. If the advisor determines that your development and growth strategies could benefit from NRC IRAP support, they will refer you to an NRC IRAP Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA).

The ITA may also meet with you in person to understand your business in more detail such as your business strategy and the issues you are facing, the opportunities you see for growth and your plans for the future to determine if the Youth-Green program is right for you.

If yes, your ITA will work with you to develop a project proposal. It could be in R&D, engineering, multimedia, market analysis or development of a new product or process, align with green economy sectors or industries and expected to produce an environmental benefit.

Find and hire your student. Internships are available anywhere in Canada and must last a minimum of three months, and a maximum of six months. Your candidate must Canadian or permanent resident. Your ITA can connect you with networks that have the right candidates.

Within two weeks, you'll know if your project is approved.

Submit monthly reimbursement claims.

Note: The proposed federal program changes from Budget 2018 will be reflected here as they take effect.

Drug Checking Technology Challenge

Funding of $25,000 for 10 semi-finalists and an additional $100,000 for five finalists to create a rapid, easy-to-use and low-cost testing device or instrument that can be used with minimal training and preparation.

Commercialization Support for Business Program — Stream 1

Up to $50,000 for market validation studies that include third party verification of the core results, registration of intellectual property, construction of a working prototype or finished good, and obtaining product certification.

Market Readiness

Capital investments of up to $125,000 at the customer-creation stage and up to $250,000 at the company-building stage to support the development of innovations that give companies a competitive advantage.

Creative Saskatchewan Investment Programs

Grants for book publishing, craft and visual art, interactive digital projects, live performing arts, music- and screen-based media for new product development, research, marketing, export development and more.

Eastern Ontario Investing in Regional Diversification Pool (RDP)

Eastern Ontario entrepreneurs can apply for loans of up to $350,000 for new ventures, expansion and additional capital needs, in particular for innovation, green tech, clean tech, women entrepreneurs, and succession planning and ownership transition.

Financing of Refundable Tax Credits

If you're eligible for a refundable tax credit and need the funds to carry out your project right away, you can get a loan of up to 100% of the anticipated amount, starting at $50,000 for scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) tax credits and at $20,000 for other tax credits.

Indigenous Forestry Initiative

Funding of up to $1 million per year for clean technology, forest bioeconomy, environmental stewardship and forest resource management projects in the forestry industry that create economic development opportunities for Indigenous peoples.

Business Development Project Fund (BDPF) — Core BDPF

Get up to $10,000 in Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and Inuvik or up to $20,000 in other parts of the territory to help fund start-up expenses, expansion, raw materials, and short term projects that create employment.

Government of the Northwest Territories, Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation

Alberta Investor Tax Credit – Job creation

Get a 30% tax credit for providing capital to Alberta small businesses carrying out research, development or commercialization of new technology, new products or new processes in non-traditional sectors that will lead to strong job creation.

Government of Alberta, Business, Industry, Economy and Innovation – Corporate and Business Tax

Feed into the application process. (Tip: The application is mainly completed by the university researcher. As a business, you contribute to the development of the proposal, create a letter of support responding to particular questions and provide a profile of your company to the researcher or to NSERC directly by registering for eServices.)

NSERC assesses the application on technical merit, industrial relevance and other criteria, usually within three months after receiving the completed application.

If approved, funding is provided directly to the university typically within 30 days.

Government of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Innovation Rebate Program

Between $500,000 and $3,750,000 to cover 25% of the costs of projects that enable a company to increase innovation capacity through private-sector capital investments or adoption of new technologies and business processes.

Agriculture Research and Innovation — Innovative Technologies

Funding to support implementation of technologies that are leading edge, potentially high-risk and first of their kind to the province or region, including 50% of costs, up to $20,000, for innovative on-farm diversification and 35% of costs, up to $30,000, for demonstration and evaluation of innovative technologies.

Government of Prince Edward Island, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Yukon Film Development Fund

Get a non-repayable contribution of up to 50% of Yukon expenditures to a maximum of $35,000 or 33% of total project expenses (whichever is less), as well as up to $10,000 to bring more senior personnel to Yukon.

AC Jump Start

Get up to $30,000 in seed funding, $10,000 in-kind mentorship and access to market research and connections to investors. Note: The proposed federal program changes from Budget 2018 will be reflected here as they take effect.

Jobs and Prosperity Fund — Food and Beverage Growth Fund

Grants and loans for strategic investments in the food and beverage processing, and bioproduct sectors, including creating and retaining jobs, strengthening supply chains, enhancing innovation and productivity, and increasing access to domestic and foreign markets.

Ontario Tax Exemption for Commercialization

Refund of corporate tax paid by Canadian universities within the first 10 taxation years for commercializing intellectual property (IP) in advanced health, bioeconomy (including clean energy technologies) and telecommunications, computer or digital technologies.

Government of Ontario, Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

How it works

Find your project partners and have them sign a letter signifying their interest and detailing your collective in-kind and cash contribution to the project, which must constitute 50% of the total project costs.

TalentEdge Program — Internships

Double your investment of $10,000 and expand your research and development potential by hiring a student or recent graduate to help develop new products, processes or services.

Status

Accepting applications

Money

For each 4-month internship, you contribute $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in-kind and the program contributes $10,000

Usual maximum of $60,000 per application per company in a year

Stacking

If your project is already funded through another government program, contact a program manager before submitting an application

How it works

Find a student to work on your project. The Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) can help match companies with students, but a good starting point is to post the job and reach out to colleges and universities to let them know.

Complete an eligibility questionnaire.

OCE will review it within 1–2 business days.

If you're eligible, OCE will set up an online application for you.

Complete the application. You'll need:

The intern's official transcript(s) and curriculum vitae/resume

Information about your company, such as your business number, incorporation date and number of employees (globally and in Ontario)

OCE will review and assess your application (in 4–6 weeks).

If your application is approved, OCE will release the payment directly to you, minus a $1,500 holdback (per internship). The holdback will be released when the project ends and OCE receives progress and final reports and proof of payment to the intern.

Innovation Canada

Most marine fishing gear is not easy to recycle and doesn't decompose in aquatic environments. Gear that gets lost or abandoned hurts the surrounding wildlife and causes navigation issues for vessels. If you can develop new fishing gear or gear-related technology that reduces aquatic pollution, you could get multiple grants totalling up to $1.5 million.

Government of Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Funding for projects in the Atlantic fisheries sector, including R&D, pilots and testing, commercialization, partnerships and network creation, adoption of more effective technologies and processes, and scientific research on sustainable harvesting and ecosystem shifts.

Nunavut Filmmakers Funding — Nunavut Spend Incentive Program

Get a rebate of up to 17% or 27% (depending on ownership) on the costs of producing a film in Nunavut, plus possible additional rebate bonuses for training creative personnel and creating Inuit language versions.

Product and Market Development Program — Agricultural Industry Associations

Provincial agriculture industry associations can apply for funding of up to $40,000 to cover 75% of the costs to support growth and expansion of Prince Edward Island agriculture and agri-food businesses.

Government of Prince Edward Island, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

NBIF Innovation Voucher

Get a grant of up to $80,000, paid directly to the research institute, to cover 80% of the costs of R&D services such as applied research, proof of concept and prototyping, product testing and demos, and more.